REACTION:NEW CHILD protection guidelines for the Catholic Church received a mixed reaction from groups which provide support to abuse victims yesterday.
One in Four expressed concern that the Safeguarding Children document did not address fundamental concerns about the church’s ability to protect children. In particular, it raised concerns that bishops’ “designated delegates” – officials responsible for dealing with abuse allegations – will conduct a preliminary internal inquiry before deciding if an allegation should be referred to civil authorities.
“Do church personnel have the expertise to do this? In our view, only the gardaí or HSE social workers have the professional competence to undertake such an investigation and to decide if further action is warranted. This discretionary authority must be removed from the church,” One in Four’s executive director Maeve Lewis said.
It also said the system of yearly self-monitoring for Catholic dioceses and organisations was no guarantee that the church would provide better child protection.
“Given the recent example of a bishop misleading the civil authorities in this regard, can we really trust that self- monitoring will be adequate?” Ms Lewis said.
“What authority has the National Board for Safeguarding Children to enforce compliance and what penalties will be imposed? If the church is to retain any credibility, it must be accountable for lapses which place children in danger and individual church leaders must be subject to sanctions.”
Children’s charity Barnardo’s welcomed the new guidelines but cautioned that the implementation of standards was crucial. “Guidelines can have moral authority, but without the full force of law behind any national system, we cannot say that we have done everything in our power to protect our children,” said the charity’s chief executive, Fergus Finlay.
He said the “clear and transparent” approach of these new standards and the monitoring and auditing included within the guidelines would hopefully improve the implementation of the highest level of child protection within the church”.
“While guidelines are always useful, it is on the ground implementation of any such measures that really matters. We have long campaigned for Children First to be put on statutory footing, making it mandatory to report allegations of abuse and implement full child protection measures.
“If they are not rolled out comprehensively they make little difference to the lives of children potentially at risk of abuse.”
Ms Lewis said it was difficult to be optimistic given the church’s poor past record on child protection.
“The guidelines do not give the board the authority it needs to ensure that children will be safe. We must wait and see if the bishops and the congregational leaders can show that the learning curve has ended and that they are ready to place the safety of children above the interests of the . . . church,” she said.
